Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Even though it's Tuesday, I wanted to recap our weekend, because we had SO much fun! We spent Saturday morning just hanging around the house. We baked some muffins, played play-doh, and Noah took a SUPER short nap (I really hope this isn't a sign that naps will soon be gone!).

Saturday evening, we went to our friends' house for dinner. Chris and I got to have a delicious dinner (cooked by Nesa!) and some adult conversation while Noah got to play with his bud, JP. They even sent us home with yummy leftovers... SCORE!

^^^ ROAR!

^^^ BOWLING!

^^^ If there's a tower, Noah will knock it down!

Then the boys started playing dress-up and I realized I had very similar pictures of the two of them from almost a year ago. These boys look so much older now, thought just as cute!

Noah (and Chris) LOVED the train conductor outfit that JP had. Chris decided to go out Saturday night while I put Noah to bed and get him his own! Chris then dressed the monkey in it and surprised Noah with it on Sunday morning. He LOVED it!

Sunday morning, we went back to our friends' house because we were hosting a MOMS Club Egg Hunt at their house. The grass was still wet and it was too cold out, so we held everything inside. Thank goodness they have a huge basement and we could do the hunt, craft, and food for 15 families down there :) The kids had so much fun. It was cute to see how some kids were obsessed with collecting as many eggs as they could, while Noah just grabbed a few and wanted to open each one as he went. I hid 200 eggs and the actual hunt was over in less than 5 minutes!

We spent the rest of Sunday just hanging out. We baked some Spring/Easter sugar cookies... and Noah sneezed on some of his! Don't worry, we didn't use his dough after that ;) I'll be sharing more about our adventures in baking and decorating tomorrow!

Monday, March 30, 2015

Noah and I recently participated in a #boyMom Box Swap that Elizabeth @ Chasin' Mason and Stephanie @ Wife Mommy Me hosted! I love being a "boy mom" and thought that whole idea sounded like so much fun! We were randomly assigned partners and we were to send them a package including things that we enjoy doing with our own son. I was partnered up with Stephanie (one of the great hosts!) and I was so excited to get to know her and her son, Connor, through her blog. I love the blog world and meeting new friends, and these swaps can be a great way to do so!

Stephanie and Connor sent us a bag full of things! I was so excited to open the box and find this adorable bag...

Stephanie included so many fun goodies for both Noah and myself! I especially liked the pretty stationery and of course the Starbucks gift card! We are huge Nutella & Go fans over here and hadn't seen the pretzel version yet... I have a feeling my husband might be stealing those! Noah's favorite was definitely the bubbles, but I'm really looking forward to using the sidewalk chalk with him once the weather gets nicer!

^^^ bubbles not shown since Noah grabbed them IMMEDIATELY!

Head on over to Wife Mommy Me to see what we sent Stephanie and Connor!

Friday, March 27, 2015

Happy Friday! Another week has come and gone... we had a nice mix of play dates, classes, and errands/chores. We have a few fun things planned this weekend and I'm really looking forward to it! Here's my weekly five...

ONE

This week my friend Kristen came over with her little baby. Noah is obsessed with babies and was so excited for Sawyer to come over. He talked about him all morning but when we had them sit next to each other, Noah not only wouldn't hold him, he didn't even want Sawyer touching his arm!

TWO

I took Noah to the mall to get his picture taken at Picture People. With our membership, we were up for a free "Trio Frame". I decided to dress him up in his Easter outfit and get some "Spring photos". Noah was such a good listener and did everything the photographer asked him to. He was acting like such a model!

THREE

A friend of mine and I are hosting a Egg Hunt through our MOMS Club. We have tons of eggs filled with little toys and candy, a craft for the kids to do, and families have signed up to bring yummy breakfast dishes. Too bad we live in the North East and the Egg hunt will have to be inside.

FOUR

Before having Noah, I rarely shopped at Old Navy. While my job didn't require suits, I mostly shopped at Banana Republic and Ann Taylor. Now my daily clothing is WAY more casual and therefore my stores of choice have changed as well. Recently, I've really been liking what Old Navy has been putting out, and the prices are great too! I'm loving their current selection of sandals, and it's making me long for warmer temps even more than I had been!

FIVE

Next month, we are going to Baltimore for a long weekend. Chris went in middle school and I've never been. I hear there are lots of fun things to do with kids there, so we are really looking forward to it. If you have any suggestions for activities or restaurants, I'd love to hear them!

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

I can't believe Easter is almost here! While it's not as early as it could be, it still feels like I haven't had enough time to really get prepared and do fun Easter crafts and activities with Noah. We will definitely be doing a bunch this week and next! Thankfully, I've been collecting things for Noah's basket for a while, so that's all set!

For Noah's Easter Basket, I wanted to keep it relatively simple and limit the amount of candy that's actually in the basket. He will be doing plenty of egg hunts, so no worries about him getting candy! We got him a few new books... including one that's Easter related, a counting book, and a look and find book (that's on pre-order). Noah LOVES look and find books and we already have this Curious George book (as well as many other versions). To go along with the Duck & Goose book, we found these plush stuffed animals... I think he will love holding them while we read!

I love interactive toys, so we got him this wooden memory game (per Laura's recommendation) that will be wrapped outside the basket. We also got him a coloring book, stickers, and egg shaped play-doh. I think he will love it because he's obsessed with both eggs and play-doh right now!

Noah goes through phases with the bath where he either loves it or hates it. Right now, he loves it. So we picked him up some new bath toys in hopes to keep the love alive!

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

I finally jumped on the bandwagon and signed up for Stitch Fix! (I'm not going to go through the whole explanation of what it is since I'm sure you already know what it is or you can go to their website and they can explain it better than I can.) So many of the bloggers I follow have done it and they seem to get some really cool clothes from them. I figured what's the harm in at least trying it. My first delivery came last Wednesday and I was so excited to open the box! My stylist is named Tim, and he picked some really great pieces. I told him I had an Easter Brunch coming up and also wanted some jeans that I could wear with booties. As Stitch Fix suggests, I also created a Pinterest board with pieces that I liked and why. I have to say, that while I'm not keeping every item, I was very impressed with the picks!

First up, and probably my favorite piece, was this Tenessy Maxi Dress. Tim thought it would look good with a cardigan, statement necklace, and some wedges for Easter Brunch. I wanted to make sure this dress would be versatile, so I tried it on with a few different pieces from my closet. First I tried it on by itself. I figured in the summer this would be a nice alternative to shorts and a t-shirt. I really think I could wear this when out with Noah or a casual summer date with Chris. This is definitely a keeper! Now I just need a tan!

Next I tried it on with a few cardigans and my denim jacket. I think I'll wear the middle outfit to Easter. The gray cardigan on the left was also included in my Stitch Fix and Tim suggested trying it on with that as well.

Tim also sent me two tops. One was the Corrinna Striped Heathered Dolman Top and the other was the Elena Embroidery Detail Top. When I first saw and put on the Dolman top I really liked it and the colors. But after seeing pictures of it on me, I'm not sure it's that different from things I already own. This went from a definite to a maybe.

I surprisingly really loved the colors in the Elena Embroidery Detail Top. I doubt I'd pick this out in the store, but on my Pinterest page I mentioned wanting to try a top like this. My only issue was it felt a little weird/heavy across the back (it has the same detailing on the back) and it was a little shorter than I usually like (I have a long torso). This will be going back but I'd like to get more shirts like this to try in the future.

Finally, I tried on the Asymmetrical Zip Cardigan and Distressed Boyfriend Jeans. The cardigan is SUPER soft and I liked the idea of the asymmetrical zipper. The only problem is it doesn't look right on me when zipped up. Not sure if I really care, since I do like how it looks open. I can see myself grabbing this cardigan a lot in the next few months when it starts off chilly in the morning and warms up by the afternoon. With it's neutral color it would go with a lot of things and I honestly don't have much like it in my closet right now.

I wasn't too sure how I felt about the jeans. I wanted them to go specifically with these Sam Edelman ankle booties. Not sure if I like how they look with them and I'm used to jeans that are more fitted in the butt. I know they are boyfriend jeans and maybe I'm just not a fan in general. Not sure if a darker rinse would help either. Since I liked the cardigan, I decided to try on the same outfit but with jeans I already own. It's making me think that I don't really need this extra pair of jeans. Also, the jeans were $108 and with sales and coupons at my favorite stores, I can usually get my jeans for under $50.

So that was my first experience with Stitch Fix. I will definitely be doing another shipment, but I think I'll wait until end of May/beginning of June and ask for some Summer pieces.

Here's a breakdown of the items I received, how much they cost, and what I kept vs. returned:

Alan French Terry Asymmetrical Zip Cardigan - $68 (KEPT)

Tenessy Maxi Dress - $78 (KEPT)

Elena Embroidery Detail Top - $58 (RETURNED)

Dilan Distressed Boyfriend Jean - $108 (RETURNED)

Corinna Striped Heathered Dolman Top - $48 (RETURNED)

If you are interested in signing up for Stitch Fix, I would really appreciate it if you used my referral link!

Monday, March 23, 2015

Wow, what a full weekend! I read an article (that I can't find for the life of me) recently saying that we love to complain that our lives so "busy". Busy makes it sound like we are doing things that we don't really want to do. Like we are running from one thing to the next. Whenever someone asks how we are doing, we like to respond "Oh we are so busy". Instead of always responding that we are so busy, to describe life as being "full". I really liked that idea and I'm going to try to stop describing my life as being "busy".

Anyway, back to our full weekend.... on Saturday, Chris and I had a wedding to go to. In preparation, I went to get a manicure and pedicure with a friend in the morning. Chris and I then took Noah to get his haircut.

My mom and dad came over in the late afternoon/evening to watch Noah while we went to the wedding. Chris and I took separate cars so that he could stay later. It was his good friend getting married and unfortunately Noah has a hard time going to bed for anyone other than me. I got home by 10:30 and put that tired boy to sleep.

^^^ This reminds me of when I was a kid and we would take a picture with my parents all dressed up for their holiday work party.

^^^ with the happy couple!

^^^ our good friends, Teri & Joe, from out of town

^^^ our table :)

I sent Chris a picture of the two of us showing him I made it home safe. Meanwhile, Chris stayed at the wedding, busting out the old dance moves!

On Sunday, we had a super low key morning. Despite going to bed late, Noah was up by 7am! Noah was super excited to play with daddy, including play-doh and the slinky! After Noah's nap, I went to the dine in theater with my friend Nicole to see Insurgent. Meanwhile, Chris and Noah went to Nonna & Granddad's (Chris' parents) house for dinner and a visit with Uncle Justin (and Louie)

^^^ maybe the bright colors will bring the Spring weather back!

.

The next couple of weekends are gonna be just as busy full. While I love having fun activities planned, I think we should put a low key weekend on the calendar ASAP!